Phoenix Suns guard Vince Carter against the Detroit Pistons at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Pistons 92-75.Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

It’s no secret a youth revolution is rising in NBA. Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is the NBA’s MVP, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have one of the youngest teams in the NBAp in the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Even still, the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat are showing that the veterans aren’t ready to turn the page just yet. And you can count former Orlando Magic guard Vince Carter among the latter.

So far, 34-year-old Vince Carter completed 13 seasons in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic and currently with the Phoenix Suns.

I caught up with Vince Carter at the Dick Vitale Gala reception in Sarasota, where North Carolina coach Roy Williams was being honored, for a few brief questions. Namely, how much longer does he see his NBA career lasting?

“I’ve never been a person to put a cap on my ability or my career. I’m just gonna play it as it goes,” Vince Carter said. “I still plan on playing 15 years, that’s been my goal since Day 1 and I’m gonna try to accomplish that.”

Miami Heat's LeBron James leaves the court at the end of Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday, May 15, 2011. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Miami Heat, 103-82. (Scott Strazzante/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

The Miami Heat’s power duo, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, might not be enough to beat the Chicago Bulls in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls connected on offense and defense to overwhelm the Miami Heat in a 103-82 Game 1 win.

So what can the Miami Heat do to adjust in the NBA playoffs?

“Unless they get Dwight Howard between now and Wednesday, they can’t fix [their problems],” TNT analyst Charles Barkley joked. ” Ernie, the Miami Heat got two great players.”

Charles Barkley later added, “you know sometimes we overreact from one game to the next because every game is different, but Chicago is the best defensive team in the league, their gonna be great on the boards in every game, their bench is gonna be consistent. That’s a very daunting task for the Miami Heat.

I think they only way they can turn this series is they’re gonna have to make this a track meet. Their offense is basically give the ball to LeBron, give the ball to Dwyane Wade, ya’ll make a play. That won’t work against the Bulls.”

TNT analyst Kenny Smith brought up an interesting point about the Miami Heat’s problems saying Miami needs to run more set plays versus isolation offense.

“I really believe there are certain things that are structurally wrong that they do offensively against Chicago. They have to call plays and the days of just giving the ball to this guy or Wade, is over,” Kenny Smith said.

“Yeah, I believe him,” J.J. Barea said. “I talked to him before games or something like that and I think he’s a really good guy. His apology, he means well, so I got no problems with it.”

He said earlier, ” It’s good that he apologized. I think he’s a great guy. I think, he’s a pro, he doesn’t want to hurt me. I think he just got frustrated in the moment. I think that was just a bad moment in his life where he just wasn’t thinking and he took it out on me. Like he said, I’m glad I’m OK and nothing happened.”

If you missed Andrew Bynum’s apology, this is what he said.

“I want to apologize for my actions at the start of the fourth quarter. They don’t represent me, my upbringing, this franchise or any of the Laker fans out there that want to watch us and want us to succeed. Furthermore, and more importantly, I want to actually apologize to J.J. Barea for doing that. I’m just glad that he wasn’t seriously injured in the event. And all I can say is, I’ve looked at (the replay), it’s terrible and it definitely won’t be happening again.”

Sensing the Los Angeles Lakers on the verge of becoming the first victims of a NBA playoffs sweep under Phil Jackson’s regime, Andrew Bynum took a cheap elbow shot at Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea sending him in a fetal position on the court.

Andrew Bynum was ejected from the game and took off his Lakers jersey as he walked off the court. The NBA fined Andrew Bynum $25,000 and suspended him for five games at the start of next season resulting in $677,272 of his salary, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James gestures to teammates against the Boston Celtics during the second half of Game 3 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series in Boston, Massachusetts May 7, 2011. REUTERS/Adam Hunger

Miami Heat stars Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have surely fielded their share of questionable questions, but one reporter’s question after their Game 3 loss in the NBA playoffs rubbed LeBron James the wrong way.

The reporter asked Dwayne Wade about his response to people who thought his play was dirty, referring to the third quarter takedown of Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo resulting in a dislocated elbow.

Despite covering his mouth with his hands, LeBron James can clearly be heard saying under his breath “retarded.” It appears James directed the word at the reporter’s question.

So what do you think sports fans? Was Dwyane Wade’s takedown of Rajon Rondo a dirty play or a freak accident?

For those of you who missed the Rajon Rondo elbow injury, check out this video that captures the amazing comeback for the Boston Celtics’ tough guard.

Otis Smith, Jameer Nelson and Jason Richardson were all in the hot seat during a heated discussion about the Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks playoff series on ESPN’s 1st and 10 Monday.

Brothers Doug and Ryan Stewart, hosts for the popular Atlanta-based sports talk radio show “2 Live Stews,” were the guest debaters for Skip Bayless. The question of the day was who was to blame for the Orlando Magic’s two-game deficit?

Ryan Stewart was the more vocal of the brothers first blaming Otis Smith for trading away Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis. Stewart said Carter and Lewis had greater postseason impacts than Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas.

“Turkoglu has been a guy in a mask since he left Orlando two seasons ago and when you’re talking about Gilbert Arenas there’s just no limp left there, it’s like he’s trying to figure things out so I blame Otis Smith,” Ryan Stewart said.

He also blamed Jameer Nelson for giving the Atlanta Hawks “bulletin board” material for telling Derrick Rose after a regular season game that he would see him in the second round of NBA Playoffs.

“Go fishing Nelson peace,” he said at the end of the segment.

Stewart’s brother Doug took a more passive stance blaming “Father Time” as the culprit for knees and bodies that are getting too old, referencing Gilbert Arenas and Hedo Turkoglu.

Skip Bayless blamed Jason Richardson for getting himself suspended in Game 3.

“I think they would have won last night if Jason Richardson had played,” Bayless said.

Shaquille O'Neal talks to teammate Ray Allen on the bench during the first quarter of Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series against the New York Knicks in Boston April 17, 2011. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

One word for Jesus ShuttlesworthRay Allen — awesome.

Like a reliable car, the Boston Celtics can always depend on Ray Allen to get them where they need to go. And for the Celtics, that meant a game-winning three point shot to seal a 87-85 Game 1 win against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference first round playoffs.

You’ll remember Ray Allen broke Reggie Miller’s NBA record for most 3-pointers made in February against the Los Angeles Lakers making his 2,561st 3-pointer.

It’s been said Shaquille O’Neal is key for the Boston Celtics to defeat the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but perhaps, the Celtics real clutch man is still Ray Allen.

LeBron James bolted for the sunnier skies of Miami. After one season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Shaquille O’Neal will now come of the bench in Boston. And Joakim Noah, well, we all know how the Chicago Bulls center felt about the city during his albeit brief stint in Cleveland during the 2009-10 NBA playoffs.

Now, former Cleveland Browns WR Braylon Edwards officially joined the “I don’t want to be in Cleveland” club when he told Greg Bishop of the New York Times he was too flashy for the blue-collar city. Edwards was traded to the New York Jets last year shortly after an altercation in a nightclub.

Edwards told the Times: “There’s nothing going on in Cleveland. There’s no real estate. There’s no social life, no social networking. All the people who have something going on leave Cleveland. So Cleveland has nothing, and I came in there with a New York-type of essence. So what? That was the attitude I came in with. Like, this is who I am. They didn’t like the flash.”

Flash back to April, during the NBA playoffs…

Remember when former Florida Gators C Joakim Noah was getting criticized because he said “Cleveland sucks” and “there is nothing going on” referring to things to do in the city on his off day during the Bulls-Cavs series?

Looks like he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Don’t be surprised if you catch LeBron James, Joakim Noah and Braylon Edwards sipping mojitos in South Beach.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard talks about their loss to Boston in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, while meeting with reporters after the last team meeting for the season, at the team's headquarters at the RDV Sportsplex, in Maitland, Fla., Monday, May 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel,Joe Burbank)

Just one year ago, the NBA championship trophy seemed so close for the Orlando Magic. And now, it’s so far away. Or is it?

NBA TV analyst and former Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale said the Orlando Magic are just a couple of pieces away from winning a NBA title based off their playoff performance in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.

“ The playoffs, size truly does matter. You know that three-point line was good to Orlando all year long when they beat 10 or more screens their record was phenomenal and they won 80 percent of their games,” Kevin McHale told the Orlando Sentinel. ”But sometimes those 3’s get hard to make in the playoffs so i would say just another big guy that can bang the ball a little bit and a couple guys that can put the ball on the floor and be effective. I think Jameer got in the paint with the games they won, their wings have never been drivers. I think, surprisingly, Vince really didn’t do that much, [Mickael] Pietrus is not a driver of the ball and so they could use a guy that put the ball on the floor and attack the rim.”

Another big body would certainly have helped Dwight Howard in the low post, but the Magic really don’t need to shop far for that piece considering they had a very underused big body in Brandon Bass. Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter are physically capable of attacking the perimeter, but for various reasons did not in the crucial times when it counted.

With so many top-notch free agents becoming available this July, who should the Magic look to scoop? Or should they be conservative and stick with the same roster?

UPDATE: NBA referee Joe DeRosa was suspended for one game without pay for tossing a ball toward a fan at halftime of Game 2 during the Eastern Conference Finals in Orlando.

Players were not the only ones getting physical on the Amway Arena court. The NBA will review a confrontation between veteran referee Joe DeRosa and a fan that occurred at halftime, as first reported by the Orlando Sentinel.

Referees DeRosa, Marc Davis and Bill Kennedy walked to the scorer’s table to at midcourt after the second quarter to retrieve their jackets to a chorus of boos and fans chanting “Refs you suck.”

One fan, Wyndham Vacation Ownership CEO Franz Hanning, heckled the refs from behind the scorer’s table and DeRosa threw a ball at Hanning, who then threw it back at DeRosa.

DeRosa called over Amway Arena security officials, who relocated the fan to another seat. DeRosa has officiated over 1,000 regular season games and 75 playoff games and five NBA Finals according to basketballrefs.com.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank, who attended the game, told the Orlando Sentinel that the league was aware of the situation, which was replayed on ESPN’s telecast.

“The situation will be reviewed after the game,” Frank said.

Franz Hanning, 55, is an Orlando resident and an acquaintance of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

“I didn’t see it. Unfortunately I know the fan,” Doc Rivers said laughing. “But I didn’t see it I didn’t know any of it had happened until I came back out. My Orlando buddies were telling me what happened. So I can’t have a comment on it because I never saw it. But Joe no he’s not an emotional guy. He’s great in any situation so I don’t know what happened.”

Hanning responded Wednesday afternoon via an e-mailed statement, “As many people in Orlando know, I am a huge fan of NBA basketball and especially my home team the Orlando Magic. I think the NBA officials do a great job. I’m looking forward to the Magic going to Boston and evening up the series.”

For those of you who did not stay up past midnight to watch the post game press conference, here’s a transcript of one of the more funny moments. (One which prompted Doc Rivers to ask a Boston Globe reporter if he was being called crazy.)

Boston Globe reporter: “Doc, throughout the course, it would be like everyday, or every other day or every week, you would say ‘we’re close, I think we’re close, I like our team and you sounded crazier and crazier every time. What made you think that? And now, after a series where you really were largely predicted…”

Doc Rivers: “You thought I sounded crazy? Is that what you just said?” (laughter from the room)

Reporter: “Crazier.”

Doc Rivers: “So I was already crazy?”

Reporter: “Yes sir.”

Seriously funny moment. After the comedic break, Doc Rivers answered the question with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Doc Rivers: “Well I saw us in training camp and I know that sounds crazy, but I thought we were phenomenal in training camp. I thought we looked better in training camp than we did two years ago. We started out great and obviously we fell apart with injuries and all other kinds of issues and, but you can see everybody wanting to get back.”